No NYC Coronavirus ‘Red Zone’ Changes Forthcoming, Cuomo Says

NEW YORK CITY — Residents in New York City’s coronavirus hotspots likely won’t learn when state-imposed closures will lift until next week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

Cuomo said Wednesday that COVID-19 levels have improved in remaining “micro clusters,” which include areas of Brooklyn and Queens. But none improved enough to lift restrictions other than an area of Orange Country, which will change from a “red zone” to the slightly-less-strict “orange” designation, he said.

“There has been progress in other areas, in micro clusters, but nothing at this point that would cause us to change any classifications this week,” he said. “And we’ll watch it over the next week for possible alterations next week.”

Much of southern Brooklyn remains under “red zone” restrictions requiring school and non-essential business closures, as well as strict capacity limits on houses of worship. Likewise, nearby areas in Brooklyn and other parts of Queens are covered by “yellow” zones, where schools must undergo weekly coronavirus tests.

Cuomo instituted the color-coded, tiered systems as coronavirus cases spiked in localized clusters across the state. This “micro cluster” strategy, as he dubbed it, imposes pinpointed restrictions on small COVID-19 hotspots before they grow into larger fires of infection.

It appears the strategy is working, at least for now. New York’s overall coronavirus positivity rate — 1.5 percent — is the second-lowest in the country, Cuomo said Wednesday.

“Only Maine is lower than we are,” he said.

Meanwhile, cases are surging in most states — 36 states and Puerto Rico are above the 5 percent positivity threshold the World Health Organization recommends for safely reopening.

The positivity rate for Cuomo’s “micro clusters” is 3.8 percent.

New York City’s daily percent is 1.39 percent, and 1.75 percent over a seven-day average.

Click here to see if your neighborhood is in a COVID Zone.

This article originally appeared on the New York City Patch